Mumbai: CA duped of Rs 29L in real estate scam, 1 held

MUMBAI: Dahisar Police arrested one person out of a gang of four who posed as real estate agents and property sellers to dupe a potential buyer of Rs 29.5 lakh. Police said the gang has been involved in another cheating case at Malad as well.

The complainant is a chartered accountant and lives in the western suburbs. He was staying in a rented apartment with his family and was keen to purchase a flat of his own. In Aug 2025, he was browsing a real estate portal when he found a listing for an apartment for sale in Dahisar. The cost was mentioned as Rs 1.05 crore and the phone number of a "broker," Aditya, was listed.

The complainant got in touch with Aditya over WhatsApp and was told that he would be shown the flat in a few days. On Aug 23, Aditya sent another "broker" Deepak to meet with the complainant and show him the vacant flat located at Dahisar. The complainant, his father and father-in-law checked out the flat and liked it.

Thereafter, Shah summoned the complainant to a restaurant on Aug 26 to meet with the flat "owner". The complainant tried to bargain the cost of the apartment but the "owner" refused and demanded Rs 85 lakh in cheque to be entered into the agreement of sale and Rs 20 lakh in cash.

The complainant paid a token of Rs 5.01 lakh by cheque and was given a copy of chain of agreements of the flat. He sent them to his lawyer for verification. Later, the complainant paid the cash component of Rs 20 lakh and another Rs 4.14 lakh to the "owner".

Aditya got the complainant to pay Rs 21000 as his commission. It was mutually agreed to proceed for registration of the flat on Sept 9. But the "owner" made excuses and did not turn up. Aditya then demanded another Rs 20000 which the complainant paid as he was keen to get the flat registered.

But when the complainant noticed that the same flat was up for sale again on the real estate portal, he sensed something amiss and contacted the police.

Investigations by a police team comprising investigating officer Yogesh Patil and supervised by DCP Mahesh Chimte, ACP Maloji Shinde and senior inspector Sarjerao Patil revealed that the property owner whom the complainant had paid was fake.

"The gang of accused would approach property sellers pretending as brokers and offer to find them a good buyer. They would then ask the seller for chain of agreements for the flat, besides other documents. The photo of one of the accused and his contact details were then forged on the documents and they were used to con potential buyers," explained a police officer. Police have arrested Deepak so far.